The NBA’s free-agency moratorium, the discussion period when talks can be held between players and teams but signings may not be made, opens in 10 days, and forward Harrison Barnes and center Festus Ezeli are expected to be the most coveted of the Warriors’ eight free agents.

Both are restricted free agents, meaning the Warriors may match any opponent’s offer sheet, and both could demand top dollar with the salary cap expected to soar to about $95 million.

Barnes, who turns 26 this month, has averaged 10.1 points and 4.6 rebounds in his four-year career. He’s the starting small forward and the backup power forward, and his versatile defense is one of the keys to the Warriors’ small-ball lineup.

“I haven’t put a lot of thought into it,” said Barnes, who turned down the Warriors’ four-year, $64 million offer before the season.

Ezeli, 26, wasn’t the same player after left knee surgery in February, but despite missing about two months late in the season, he still finished the season with career highs in nearly every category. He averaged seven points on 54.8 percent shooting, 5.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots.

“I really have not,” Ezeli said when asked whether he had considered Sunday’s game might have been his last in a Warriors uniform. “There are a lot of emotions going through my mind right now. That one is really in the back of my mind. It’s not really an issue. I’m just thinking about the fact that we lost, and it’s a really s— feeling.”

The Warriors huddled with prized free agent Kevin Durant on Friday morning in New York, pitching the four-time scoring champ on the idea of leaving Oklahoma City to team with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.

Each of the Warriors’ All-Stars was part of the nearly three-hour meeting, but Durant didn’t indicate in which direction he was leaning on the first full day of the NBA’s annual free-agent spending frenzy.

Durant also met with the Clippers on Friday, and he is scheduled for sit-downs with the Celtics and Spurs on Saturday and the Heat on Sunday. He met with the Thunder on Thursday before shifting his temporary home office to the Hamptons, and ESPN reported that he’ll also give Sunday’s closing argument to Oklahoma City.

Those closest to the situation believe that Durant staying with the only franchise he’s known during his nine-season NBA career is still overwhelmingly the most likely outcome, but the Warriors have pulled off a couple of upsets during recent summers.

They managed to dump about $24 million in bad contracts to work a sign-and-trade deal for Andre Iguodala in 2013, and they snatched head coach Steve Kerr from the appeal of Phil Jackson and the Knicks in 2014.

Teams may officially begin signing free agents when the moratorium lifts at 9:01 p.m. PDT on Wednesday. Durant is expected to have made a decision by then, a move that will set off a series of dominoes for the Warriors.

If Durant chooses the Bay Area, the Warriors will have to renounce their rights to restricted free agents Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli and probably trade center Andrew Bogut to clear the $26 million needed.

If Durant goes elsewhere, the Warriors will send out feelers on players who might give discounts to chase a championship ring, but their focus will be on bringing back the majority of the roster that has made back-to-back NBA Finals appearances.

After checking with guys like Pau Gasol and Jamal Crawford, the Warriors could negotiate extensions with Barnes and Ezeli or match offer sheets they sign with opposing teams. Barnes turned down a four-year, $64 million extension from the Warriors before the 2015-16 season and is widely expected to command a max deal this offseason.

When a restricted free agent signs an offer sheet, it is delivered to the incumbent franchise — a process that usually takes at least a day. Then, the team has three more days to decide whether to match the deal.

The Warriors probably wouldn’t need that much time to consider contracts on Barnes or Ezeli. The team’s decision makers have maintained that, barring a Durant signing, they would like to bring back both of the 2012 picks.

Barnes' and Ezeli's salaries are Qualifying Offers, which only count if the team decides to offer them that and not let them go to free agency, which Barnes has done as Dallas has apparently offered him the max salary for four years. Both QOs above are not counted towards the total of 80 million because they have not been offered or accepted yet.

The salary cap has been set at 94.1 million and the tax level will be set at $113.3 million.

I don't know why Jason Thompson's salary is counted still as he was traded before the deadline last season and though that would take his salary off the team. If it indeed isn't counted, that'd bring the team's total salary down to about 73.1 million, which would be about 21 million below the set cap, not enough to land Durant.

Unless Durant is willing to take a one year deal at about 21 million and then resign for the max next offseason, for an extra year too, the FO will have to trade one of the high salary players, does look like Bogut is the one mentioned as being the one to go, and only take back cap space and/or draft picks, not easy to do.

The team should easily be able to resign all of the free agent players that were signed on last season and not go far over the tax level. That all depends more than anything what offers Ezeli gets because he could get an offer of about 17 million quite easily.

If Bogut was to be traded Ezeli likely would either be offered the QO or resigned at a near max amount to cover the loss. It'd make some sense to resign Varejao once all free agent pickups have been completed and drafting Jones, a 7ft Center, makes it look set to trade Bogut if Durant agrees to sign with the team.

Bogut is a great player at what he does but to get Durant it is a no brainer, a must move and the team has enough bigs, if resigned, to be filled at Center.

Kevin Durant has told the clubs he is meeting with in the Hamptons that his free-agency decision will be made within the next 24-36 hours, according to league sources.

Durant, the biggest catch on the free-agent market, has met with five teams over the past three days -- Oklahoma City, Golden State, San Antonio, Boston and the Los Angeles Clippers. His final meeting is Sunday with the Miami Heat.

Oklahoma City, where Durant has played the first nine years of his career, has requested another meeting with Durant after he sits down with Miami, but no decision has been made on whether that will take place, sources said.

Boston, which met with Durant on Saturday evening, may have boosted its chances of landing him by reaching an agreement with free-agent forward Al Horford on Saturday. Rich Kleiman, Durant's agent, had been recruiting Horford to join Oklahoma City, according to a source.

One person with knowledge of the situation said the Celtics' addition of Horford could play a part in Durant's decision, but it will not be an overriding factor.

Executives from teams that have met with Durant have said they have not been able to get a read on which way he is leaning.

Nonetheless, the Clippers appear to have taken themselves out of the running by signing Austin Rivers to a three-year, $35 million contract Saturday night. Rivers' deal eats into the Clippers' cap space, leaving them little room to sign Durant.

Durant will make a decision very soon. I don't think he'll pick the Warriors, just have a hunch. He'd be smart to either go to the Warriors or Spurs if he wants the best chance at championships but I think he might go to Boston or Miami, if they keep Whiteside.

Apparently we're close on a multi-year deal with Jamal Crawford, but sources are a little sketch because everything is still on hold due to KD.

A Vegas outlet that's been breaking moves said GSW and BOS are the favorites at this point. KD was trying to recruit Horfod to OKC, but he didn't bite given no assurance KD and Westbrook would stay - so that either gives Boston an edge or the opposite, but either way it's looking like OKC might not be in the picture now.

The Dallas Mavericks intend to sign restricted free agent Harrison Barnes to a max offer sheet on the first day they are able, according to league sources.

Sources told ESPN that the Mavericks have committed a four-year max contract to Barnes worth an estimated $95 million, which can be finalized July 7, when a leaguewide moratorium is lifted on signings and trades.

The Golden State Warriors would have three days to match any offer sheet Barnes signs. Golden State officials have been adamant that they will match any offer on Barnes unless they win the Kevin Durant sweepstakes.

Sources say the Mavericks understand that actually getting Barnes will be difficult but feel compelled to make a run at him given their need for youth and athleticism.

Barnes, 24, was drafted seventh overall by the Warriors in 2012 out of North Carolina, becoming Golden State's starting small forward from day one. However, he moved to a bench role the next season after the addition of free agent Andre Iguodala. When Steve Kerr was hired as coach in 2014, Barnes moved back into the starting five and has mostly remained there.

Barnes turned down a reported extension totaling $64 million before the 2015-16 season. He then had his best campaign as a pro, averaging 11.7 points and 4.9 rebounds in 66 games.

A polarizing player because of his inconsistency, Barnes has been a key cog in the Warriors' back-to-back runs to the NBA Finals, particularly in their small-ball lineups. Barnes possesses unique defensive versatility, with the ability to switch to players bigger than him and rebound against superior size. He is a quality 3-point shooter, hitting 38.3 percent of his attempts last season, with the bulk of his 3s coming from the corners.

In four seasons, Barnes holds career averages of 10.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

Cuban and the Dallas FO want to do something in the offseason and will do anything to try to make something work to be relevant again. Hopefully Barnes goes there and hopefully he gets better, just not too much better, because he has done pretty well for the Warriors but it certainly is a huge amount of money for an average player.

Crawford has resigned with the Clips and they have spent a bit on him and Rivers so they probably can't sign any key free agent.

Because many will be wondering:He won't be involved much offensively (at all?), but nobody cares about that. He's a much better FT shooter, so no hack-a-Bogut, and looks serviceable on D and the boards. Overall, great value, not a massive drop from Bogut, and fills a need.

We already know it's gonna all be about the small-ball / death line-up: Curry, Klay, Iggy, KD, Green.

Pachulia had a very good season in Dallas, not sure whether the best in his career. He'll be effective offensively but the drop off defensively from Bogut to him is significant and that's a major hole right now. Shotblocking will be rather weak, with Draymond being pretty good but the Centers not being that good at it. If Ezeli is kept and starts, he could become a good shotblocker, comparable to Bogut but likely Ezeli will be let go as he likely will be offered a high salary contract by another team. Maybe the FO can find a good shotblocker that is relatively cheap at Center in free agency but otherwise the team will be more offensively geared than defensively and will rely on Klay, Draymond and Iguodala heavily defensively. Hopefully as a team they can concentrate on defense like they did in 2014-15.

Warriors agree to deal with David West, seek other bargainshttp://www.sfgate.com/warriors/article/Warriors-agree-to-deal-with-David-West-seek-8341839.php

A day after making the biggest possible splash of free agency by reaching a contract agreement with seven-time All-Star Kevin Durant, the Warriors on Tuesday continued trying to make waves by canvassing the market for minimum-contract bargains.

They reached an agreement on a one-year, minimum deal with big man David West. The 6-foot-9, 250-pounder, who turns 36 next month, is a two-time All-Star, and he passed on a $12.2 million option with Indiana last season to chase a title with San Antonio.

Considering all goes as planned with Durant and center Zaza Pachulia, who agreed to a one-year, $2.9 million deal, when the NBA moratorium ends Thursday, the Warriors will have 11 players locked up and will have to fill out the final three or four roster spots with minimum contracts. Our top stories: Catch every local moment | Share this story on Facebook

Those is the running may be conveniently separated into three categories: veterans, returners and summer-league players.

The list of experienced players who might be willing to play for comparatively peanuts in exchange for a chance to chase a championship is headlined by Ray Allen. The Warriors have also taken the temperatures on point guard Mario Chalmers and center Kendrick Perkins.

The Warriors have spent a portion of each of the past two years trying to land Allen. The 10-time All-Star is one of the most accurate three-point and free-throw shooters in NBA history, and the 40-year-old has stayed in shape despite sitting out since the 2013-14 season.

Among the possible returners are both players from the 2015-16 squad and some from the more distant history. The Warriors have good relationships with guards Leandro Barbosa and Ian Clark, swingman Brandon Rush and big man Marreese Speights from last season, but all of them could command bigger deals on the frenzied free-agent market.

Center Jermaine O’Neal, who played for the Warriors in 2013-14, has shown interest in making a comeback, and big man David Lee, who played for the Warriors from 2010-15, has stayed in consistent contact with his ex-teammates.

Lee surprised the Warriors during their March Madness watch party in Dallas and had baseline seats to an NBA Finals game last month at Oracle Arena.

Fields, a 6-7, 215-pound, 28-year-old, has two promising seasons with New York before signing a three-year, $20 million deal with Toronto in 2012. He played just 56 games in the past three seasons while recovering from right arm and hip injuries.